Batting device for baseball game apparatus



A- W. WEEDEN.

' BATTING DEVICE FOR BASEBALL GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1921.

Pmtnted May 23, 1922.

INVENTOR BY 7 m A A ATTORNEY ment of my inventionq trating the parts in their outermost position 1, lintl ARTHUR. W. WEETDIEN, 01f! QUINtIFfiT, MAESEAUHUSET'Jfi. ASSIGINQH, ASSIGN.. MENI'fi, T WElElDEN, JOHNSON d 30., .TNtl, AXCUJRJPOli-ATIUN 011" MAfiSACI-IUSETTS.

' IBATTINGI- DEVICE FOR BfifildBALL GAME APPARA'IWIS,

Specification of Letters Patent.

mama May as, was.

Application filed March 12,1931. Serial in. 451,814.

marked out to simulate a base-ball playing field, having a diamond, hoine platabases,

pitchers box, etc, such for instance as that shown by U. Patent #977,149, granted me on November 29, 1.919. At the homeplate is positioned a device for the purpose of batting balls delivered from the pitchersbox. My present application relates to improvements that havefbeen made to eliminate the objectionable featiires present in the forms of batting devices herctoforein use p In order that other persons skilled in the art to which my invention appertains. may construct and use my apparatus, l will now describe in detail the salient features of my improvement. i

In the following detailed description,

which ;isillustrated by the accompanyingr drawings, andpointed outin thcappended cla11ns,ll have shown the preferred embodi- In the drawings Figure 1, 1s a side elevation of the mproved battin device, showing the parts set and readyto bat the hall.

rig. 2,

Fig. 3,is a plan view of Fig. 1;

ballg p 3 Fig. 5, is a view snnilar to Figs, illus- F gs. 6, 7, and 8, are detail views. Referring .tothe draw ngs, the ClBVICe 1s composed of three piecesthat are assembled one within, the other, ,and .tGIISlQll means in the form of a spring having limbs connecting two of the pieces.

having apivot pin 11 extending downwardlyfromits bottom into an opening 12 of a board 13.

The board 13 is of the desired size and contour to represent a playing field for baseball and I have in this application shown only a small portion thereof. Preferably said board is marked off substantially in the manner described in my said patent.

The base of the device is preferably formed from sheet metal, and it is provided with vertical side walls ll (see Fig. 8) rregular in outline. The front ends of the sidewalls 14 of the base 10 have formed therein V-shaped notches 15, while intermechatethe length of the side walls are .iiectangular locking plate ei'igaging notches 16; Between the two series of notches the height of the side walls is reduced somewhat, as shown A projector 17 is slidably mounted within the base 10. This projector is formed with a bottom in which there is a slot 18 through which extends the pivot pin ll of the base 10. The projector hasside walls 19 rising from its bottom, audits forward end is bent upwardly to provide a plate 20 against There is a base 10,

which the balls usedin connection with the device are designed to contact. The plate 20 is somewhat wider than the width of the other portions ofthe device. and its eX tremL ties arebent frearwardly as shown. The front edges of the side walls 19 of the pro- 'jertor 1'? are formed with ii-shaped notches 2Lwhilelnear. the rear ends of the side walls are the openings 22 whoselower edges, upwardly inclining towards the forward end I j j of the projector, as shown, function as a is a section taken on theline 2-2,

wedge at the proper times in the manner hereinafter set forth. Positioned within the projector 17 is a shaped notches 15 and 21 formed respectively in the side walls of the base piece 10 and the projector 17, wh le the projections 25 9f the plate 23 extend through the openingsfZZin the side walls of the projector 17. Pivptally mounted in the side Walls. of

the base 10 to the rear of rectangular notches 16, is a U-shaped bail 26. The free limbs of the bail are secured to the sides of the base 10 and its cross-piece is encircled by the coil of a spring 27. The spring 27 has relatively long free ends, one of which forms a link 28 thatis pivotally connected to the front end of the plate 23, while the other is formed into a presser 29. The length of the limbs of the bail 26, and the length of the link 28 of the spring 27 is such that the coil of the spring lies over the forward end of the device, while the presser lies over its center, as shown in Fig. 1.

In the operation of the device, when it is desired to set the parts for the purpose of batting a ball, the projector 17 is slid outward slightly and the projections of the plate 23 are inserted into the notches 16 of the base 10. By means of the presser 29, the spring is put under tension, and this causes the link 28 thereof to be flexed outwardly.

, In Figures 1 and 3, of the drawings, I have shown the device with parts thereof set.

"When a ball used in playing the game hits the plate 20 of projector 17, its impact produces a backward movement of the projector relative to the base 10, and drives it into the position shown in Fig. 4; the accompanying movement of the inclined edges of the openings 22 meanwhile serving to wedge upwardly the rear projections 25 of the lockingplate 23 until the dislodgement of the same from the lock-engaging notches 16 in the sides of the base 10 is effected. Therefore the plate 23, which has previously been locked in position, is released, and through the link 28 of the spring 27, it is propelled forwardly.

During the forward movement of the plate 23, its projections 25 engage the front of the openings 2201'? the projector 17, and in this manner the projector is carried forwardly. Thus itwill be seen that when the ball hits the end plate 20 of the projector l7, it first drives the endplate rearwardly', this movement releasing the locking means, and then it is repelled outwardly being batted out upon the playing field of the base-ball game apparatus.

The base 10 of the device through the pin 11 thereof can be swung to any angular position, therefore. when the game is being playedthe balls can be batted to any desired part ofthe field by placing the device in thedesired position. Likewise, the balls can be batted either fast or slow according to the amount of tension exerted upon the presser 29 of the spring. or according to the force with which they are thrown against the projector.

It is to. be noted that the devicecan be economically constructed, and it is designed to withstand hard usage without becoming defective, It is to be understood that I can,

if so desired, modify the form and proportion of the parts without departing from the spirit of the appended claims.

The proper depth of the V-sha ied notches 15 in the front edges of the sides of the base is of importance in contributing to a satis factory working of my invention. This depth should be such that when the lateral projections 2 1- at the front of the locking plate 23 come to rest within the apex of su h notches, they serve to align said plate in parallelism with the side walls 11') of the projector 17, thus obviating any contz-irt or binding between the said walls and the lateral edges of said plate which would inierfere with the free dropping of the projections 25 at the rear end of said plate within the notches 16 when the projector is being set for batting action.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A batting device for baseball games, and the like, comprising. a base having sides provided with lock-engaging notches, a projector slidably mounted in said base, said projector having its forward end adapted to receive the impact of the ball member to be batted, and having sides provided with openings having inclined wedge edges, :1 locking plate movable with the projector and provided with lock-engaging projections extending laterally therefrom through said wedge edged openings in the projector sides and adapted, in the rearward position of the projector relative to the base, to engage with in the lock-engaging notches of the base. the wedge edges of said openings in the sides of the projector being adapted, in the rcarward motion of the projector relative to the base due to impact of ball member on said projector, to release the lock-engaging rojections of the locking plate from the lockengaging notches of the base. and tension means intercoimecting the locking plate and the base.

2. A batting device for baseball games, and the like, comprising a base having sides provided with lork-engaging notches, a projector slidably mounted in said base. sa d projector having at its forward end means for receiving the impact of the ball member to be batted, and having sides provided with openings having inclined wedge edges, :1 locking plate mounted in said projector, said plate being provided with lock-engaging projections extending laterally therefrom through said wedge edged openings in the sides of the projector and adapted through the engagement of said ends within said openings, to communicate the movement of the locking plate to the projector. said projections being adapted, in the rearward position of the projector relative to the base. toengage within the lock-engaging notches ofthe base, and to be raised therefrom by reissue the wedge edges of the openings in the sides of the projector as said projector is caused to move rearwait'dly relatively to the base in consequence of the impact of the ball element, and tension means interconnecting the locking plate and the base.

3. A batting device of the class described comprising, a base having sides provided with notches in their front edges and lockengaging notches intermediate the length of said sides, said base having a pivot pin extending therethrough and projecting downward into a game board and upward above its upper surface, a projector slidably mounted in said base and having sides pro vided with V-shaped notches in their front edges and wedge edged openings near their rear ends and having an impact plate carried on the front end thereofl'said projector having its bottom provided with a slot engaging the pin of the base, a locking plate mounted in the projector and having lateral.

projections extending from its front and rear ends, the front projections passing through the notches in the forward edges of the base and the projector, and the rear projections passing through the wedge edged openmgs 1n the sides of the pro ector and adapted to be engaged in the lock-engaging notchesln the sldes or the base when the device is set moperative position, said wedge edged openings in said projector sides having inclined edges whereby, when said proector is caused to move rearwardly relative .to the base in consequence of the impact thereon of a ball element, said rear projections of said. locking plate are dislodged. from. said lock-engaging notches in the sides oi. the base, and tension means interconnecting the locking plate and the base.

4;. Ina device of the class'described. a base having sides provided with notches in their front edges and lockengaging notches intermediate thereof, said base having a pivot pin extending therethrough and projecting downward into. a game board and up ward aboveits upper surface, a pro ector shdably mounted in said base and having sides provided with notches in their front edges and openings near their rear ends and a vertical plate on its :l orward end. said. projector having bottom,provided with a slot engaging the pin of the base, a locking of the locking plate and the sides of the base, said tension means being adapted to force the locking plate forwardly when the projector is driven rearwardly to release the projections oil. the locking plate from engagement with the side notches of the base.

5. In a device of the class described. having a base provided with sides and a projector slidably mounted within said base and having sides, and a locking plate having rear projections adapted, in the operative locking position of the plate to drop and engage withinnotches provided in part in the sides of the base and in part in the sides of the projector, which. notches are arranged to register in position and to be engaged by said rear projections of the locking plate in the locked position of said base and said projector, notches provided in the front edges of the sides of said base which are arranged to receive Front projections carried. by said locking plate, and thereby to align said lode ing plate with respect to said projector. so as to prevent any l')l1](ll]l1' thereof with said projector which would have the effect oi" pre venting the rear projections of said locking plate from freely dropping into their looking position when theregistering position of the notches provided in base and in the projector is reached.

In testimony whereof l have aiiixed my signature.

ARTHUR W. XVEEDEN. 

